Marijuana is biggest cash crop

Marijuana is now the biggest cash crop grown in the US, exceeding traditional harvests such as wheat, corn and soy beans, says a new report.

The study shows that 10,000 tonnes of marijuana worth $35.8bn (Â£18.4bn) is grown each year; the street value would be even higher. This dwarfs the $23bn-worth of corn grown, $17.6bn-worth of soybeans and $12.2bn-worth of hay. Marijuana is the biggest cash crop in 12 states, with the value of pot grown outstripping peanuts in Georgia and tobacco in North and South Carolina. In California, the biggest producer, it is worth $13.8bn.

The report, Marijuana Production in the US, by DrugScience.org, which wants marijuana to be reclassified, says the drug is listed as a Schedule 1 drug, deemed to have no medicinal value and a likelihood of abuse. Other such drugs include heroin.
The author, Jon Gettman, says the figures show the war on drugs is not working: "Illicit marijuana cultivation provides considerable unreported revenue for growers without corresponding tax obligations to compensate the public for the social and fiscal costs related to [its] use."

His suggestion that the crop be legalised and taxed was rejected by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, which pointed to countries with large drug cash crops, notably Colombia and Afghanistan.

The report says output in the US has grown tenfold in the last 25 years.

The boom in domestic production has in part been fuelled by tougher border controls after 9/11. As smuggling from Mexico has become more difficult the drug cartels have moved their operations into the US, often creating plantations in remote national park land.

This has been one of those third rails of american politics. Touch it and die. At some point a courageous or desperate presidential candidate will take it and run with it. The obvious guy would be Obama, but he's probably afraid to get near it, young black dude and all that. McCain is shamelessly opportunistic. Can you imagine Hillary having to deal with McCain supporting marijuana legalization? Toss the polls out the window, you could be looking at a total reorganization of american politics. I may be wrong, but I think huge majorities would support decriminalization.

I may be wrong, but I think huge majorities would support decriminalization.

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You are spot on. But like you said. It will take a brave soul to run with this issue.

Also lets not forget the constituents wallet will be on the line ...its hard to beat someone with their back to the wall. To be sure all the early 1900`s propaganda would make a revival. And those corps that make high tech black ops gear to track down those villains who grow cannabis. Jails (and those who construct them...feed them and cloth them)...etc. Their livelihood will be on the line also.

Still too early. You need to wait until the 60 something and older religious conservative crowd is in the ground.

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I disagree with this statement. The babyboomers are in control politically. And most of them grew up in the 60`s love children era...if anybody wants legal weed its them. But it is a matter of priority = staying in office or freeing thousands of otherwise innocents and legalizing a mostly innocuous plant.

"Enforcing marijuana prohibition costs taxpayers between $10 billion and $12 billion annually and has led to the arrest of nearly 18 million Americans. Nevertheless, some 94 million Americans acknowledge having used marijuana during their lives. It makes no sense to continue to treat nearly half of all Americans as criminals for their use of a substance that poses no greater - and arguably far fewer - health risks than alcohol or tobacco. A better and more sensible solution would be to tax and regulate cannabis in a manner similar to alcohol and tobacco."